'O' instead of 'e' ends quest

New Lebanon student errs on word meaning "covered in silky down"

By Brianna Gurciullo, Hearst Newspapers

Updated 11:25 pm, Thursday, May 29, 2014

Photo: Pete Marovich

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Lydia Loverin, 12, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, participates in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. times union less

Lydia Loverin, 12, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, participates in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, ... more

Photo: Pete Marovich

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Lydia Loverin, 12, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, participates in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. times union less

Lydia Loverin, 12, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, participates in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, ... more

Photo: Pete Marovich

Image 3 of 6

Lydia Loverin, 12, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, participates in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. times union less

Lydia Loverin, 12, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, participates in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, ... more

Photo: Pete Marovich

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Lydia Loverin, 12, of Mountain Road School in New Lebanon, Columbia County, participates in round two of the preliminaries of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. (Pete Marovich / Special to the Times Union) less

Lydia Loverin, 12, of Mountain Road School in New Lebanon, Columbia County, participates in round two of the preliminaries of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and ... more

Mountain Road School sixth-grader Lydia Loverin listens to the pronouncer as she announces her the winner of the Capital Region Spelling Bee at Proctor's Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014 in Schenectady, N.Y. Lydia's winning word was the Russian word "apparatchik" which is a communist secret agent. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union archive) less

Mountain Road School sixth-grader Lydia Loverin listens to the pronouncer as she announces her the winner of the Capital Region Spelling Bee at Proctor's Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014 in Schenectady, N.Y. ... more

Lydia Loverin, 12, participates in round three of the preliminaries of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. (Pete Marovich / Special to the Times Union) less

Lydia Loverin, 12, participates in round three of the preliminaries of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2014 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. (Pete ... more

The sixth-grader earlier won the Capital Region Spelling Bee at Proctors Theater.

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Lydia was one of 46 semifinalists who came from a pool of 281 spellers between 8 and 15 years old from around the world. Lydia, who has watched the spelling bee since age 3, was sponsored by the Times Union.

Lydia correctly spelled "galjoen" and "lipophilic" in two rounds Wednesday and also took two computer-based tests this week.

She has color synesthesia — a neurological phenomenon that connects letters and words to colors. She said "galjoen" was a brown and yellow word, while "lipophilic" was dark tan and white.

Lydia had never competed in a spelling bee until this academic year, when she came to Mountain Road School after years of homeschooling in Pittsfield, Mass. Her mother, Caitlin, said in an interview Wednesday that Lydia had lobbied the school to start up a bee, and her teachers signed on once they saw her abilities and interest.

"This was really her first foray into the spelling bee world, and it's something that she had always wanted to do," her mother said. "So she took it upon herself to push to be here."

About 40 students attend the pre-kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, and many watched Lydia compete on television this week.

Later Thursday, and for the first time in 52 years, two spellers were declared co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday.

Sriram Hathwar of Painted Post, N.Y., and Ansun Sujoe of Fort Worth, Texas, shared the title after a riveting final-round duel in which they nearly exhausted the 25 designated championship words. After they spelled a dozen words correctly in a row, they both were named champions.